Toy



J. H. WILHELM 2,147,181

TOY

Feb. 14, 1939.

Filed Aug. 21, 1934 INVENTOR V g I l John H.Wi\he\m a x {46 ATroRNEYs Patented Feb. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY Application August 21,

'7 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, especially dolls. and more particularly to a hollow doll fitted with a sound producing device.

Sound producing devices have proved to be popular in dolls, but in recent years, have fallen into disuse because of the development and extensive use of hollow doll bodies. With a stuffed doll body the sound producing device, which I shall briefly refer to as the voice, although it may be of the simple crier as well as the articulative or mamma type, is retained in place by the stuffing immediately surrounding the same. With a hollow doll body, whether of the rigid or partially yieldable rubber type, it is exceedingly diflicult to arrange for support of the voice, so diificult in fact, that there has, so far as I am aware, been no commercial production of voice-equipped hollow dolls.

The primary and general object of my invention resides in the provision of a hollow doll with a sound producing device, and more particularly, the provision of a simple, inexpensive form of voice holder which may be used to securely anchor a voice of conventional type in a hollow doll body.

A more particular object of my invention is to devise such a holder which may be inserted directly in the doll body without the use of special fastening means, such as nails, screws or adhesives, and which will lock itself in place immediately upon insertion without loss of time or labor.

A further object is to so arrange the voice holder that it is supported entirely at one end by the Wall of the doll through which it is inserted, thus making it independent of the opposite or surrounding walls of the doll body and therefore independent of the dimension or size of the doll. This arrangement also makes the voice holder applicable to soft or yieldable doll bodies as well as to rigid doll bodies.

Further objects of my invention are to so relate the voice holder and doll body that they will interlock regardless of variations in the thickness of the doll body; to provide means for insuring retention of the voice or sound producing device within the voice holder; and to avoid any projection of the voice holder mechanism above the surface of the doll body, which projection might feel unnatural or catch the clothing of the doll.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing, and other objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists of the doll and voice-holder elements and their relation to one another, as

1934, Serial No. 740,731

are hereinafter more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which Fig. l is a partially sectional side elevation of 5 a doll embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a portion thereof;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the doll body' prior to opening the same to receive the voice;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the Voice holder of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modified form of voice holder; and 15 Fig. '7 is a plan view of the same.

Referring to the drawing, my invention comprises a doll body B having an opening 0 cut through the back wall thereof, a voice V of conventional cylindrical type inserted in the doll body through the opening 0, and a voice holder H also inserted in the doll body through opening 0 and operating to support the voice V in position. The holder H is provided with means at its rear or open end which interlock with the edge of the opening 0 and which support the holder in the doll body independently of the side or front walls of the body. The voice V may be placed in the holder H and the assembly then inserted in the doll body through opening 0, in which case the holder may be considered as a part of the voice which modifies the same for self-supporting attachment in the doll body. It is also possible to first insert the holder in the doll body and to thereafter insert the voice in the holder, in which case the holder may be thought of as a part of the doll body especially arranged to receive the voice. I prefer the former viewpoint because I find it better in practice to assemble the voice and holder before inserting the same in the doll.

Considering the holder H in greater detail, it comprises a strip of sheet metal bent to form an end wall l2 and side walls l4 and Hi. The ends of side walls l4 and I6 are turned outwardly at l8 to bear against the outer face of the back wall 20 of the doll body. Portions of side walls [4 and I 5 are struck outwardly to form spring fingers 22 directed toward the rear or open end of the holder, which fingers bear against the inher surface of doll wall 20 and retain the holder within the doll body. It will be appreciated from a consideration of the formation of retaining fingers 22 that the holder may be slid through opening 0 in the doll body until the outwardly bent ends l8 bear against the outer face of the wall, at which time retaining fingers 22 spring outwardly against the inner face of the wall, thus automatically locking the holder in place.

The holder H is preferably provided with means to retain the voice V in place. This sound producing device is of conventional type and comprises a cylindrical casing 24 made of cardboard or paper board and closed at its ends by caps 26 and 28, the cap 28 being perforated to form sound discharge openings 30, best shown in Fig. 2 The internal mechanism of the sound producing device includes a bellows secured at one end by cap 26 and closed at its opposite end by a weighty head carrying a reed. Upon appropriate change of position of the doll, the weighty head is moved by gravity, thus expanding or collapsing the bellows with accompanying production of sound. Because the outer casing 24 is customarily made of cardboard, I prefer to anchor the voice in place within the holder by the provision of a plurality of tangs or prongs 32, struck inwardly from the side walls of the holder and embedded in the casing 24 of the voice. It will be understood that Where the voice is placed in the holder-before inserting the holder in the doll body, which is the method preferred by me, the prongs 32 may be directed inwardly at right angles to the holder, but where the voice is slid in the holder after the holder is placed in the doll body, it is preferable that prongs 32 be directed toward the closed end of the holder, thus facilitating inward, but blocking outward, movement of the voice. It is because of the greater dependability of the grip of the holder on the voice when the prongs are forced directly into the voice casing, that I prefer to assemble the voice and holder together and to thereafter force the assembly into the doll body. The wall of the doll prevents separation of the sides l4 and it of the holder, and consequently prevents escape of the voice V from the tangs.

It is important to avoid projection of the voice mechanism out of the otherwise smooth surface of the doll body. I therefore recess the body wall to receive the outwardly turned ends I8 of the holder. Referring to Fig. 2, I preferably limit the outwardly turned parts of the holder to the form of relatively small lugs or ears l8, and I recess the doll body wall at 34 to receive the ears l8. This avoids the possibility of clothing catching on ears I 8 when dressing the doll and avoids bumps or projections on the surface of the doll which would have an unnatural feel when handling the doll.

Inasmuch as the manufacturer may wish to equip only a portion of his output with sound producing devices, I prefer to so mold the doll body that it may be used either with or without a sound producing device. view, the back wall 26 of the doll is molded continuously or without the opening O as is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. The external surface of the wall is negligibly marred by a plurality, in this case four, shallow recesses 34 distributed on the periphery of an imaginary circle 36 corresponding to the opening 0. A fifth recess 38 is provided at the center of the circle 36. This recess 38 acts as a pilot hole for a cutter which may be revolved until it cuts through the body on circle 36, thus providing the desired opening. At this time the recesses 34 become effective to receive the ears I8 of the holder. It will be understood that only those dolls which are to be voice With this object in equipped have the opening 0 cut therethrough, the remaining dolls being used with the back wall intact.

To insure a snug grip of the holder on the doll body, despite variations in thickness of the doll body, the inner face of the body wall is preferably provided with bosses 40 suitably located for cooperation with the retaining fingers 22. The inner faces of bosses 40 preferably slope forwardly as is best shown in Fig. 1, so that retaining fingers 22 may move outwardly against an ever increasing thickness of wall until further movement is arrested, at which time the holder is securely locked in place.

Where it is not convenient to provide the doll body with special bosses for this purpose, the holder may be modified to attain a similar re-' sult, and such modification is shown in Figs. 6 and '7 of the drawing. Referring to these figures, it will be manifest that the holder is generally similar to that heretofore described, except that in the present case, retaining fingers 42 are provided with sloping or biased ends 44 which slope rearwardly or toward the open end of the holder from the part 46 which is bent outi It is believed that the mode of construction I and use, as well as the many advantages of my improved hollow doll and voice holder will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. The voice holder is simple and inexpensive in construction and does not add apprecia bly to the cost of the doll. There is no cost for labor, because the voice holder attaches itself automatically to the doll body upon simple direct insertion. My invention makes it practicable in a commercial way to equip hollow doll bodies with sound producing devices. The doll body may be rigid or flexible, and it may vary in dimension without in any way affecting the voice holder which is inserted through and attached to only one wall of the doll. The desirable snug fit of the holder in the doll is obtained despite variations in wall thickness, thus greatly increasing manufacturing tolerance when molding the doll. In the case of a yieldable or rubber body the outwardly bent parts or ears l8 may be enlarged.

While I have shown the voice holder as forming only part of a cylinder which receives the cylindrical voice, it will be understood that if desired, a complete cylindrical casing may be employed, thus fully enclosing the voice. It will also be understood that the holder may be skeletonized in different form than is here illustrated, as for example, by the use of an end wall and four or more arms bent rearwardly to form side walls in lieu of the two side walls here illustrated. A large number of rearwardly extending arms or fingers may be used, alternate ones of which may be bent outwardly to bear against the outer face of the doll wall, while the intermediate ones may be shortened to bear against the inner face of the doll wall. It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in preferred forms, many changes and modi- In order to in- 1 fications may be made in the structures disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a hollow doll body having a large circular opening in the back wall thereof, a plurality of forwardly sloping bosses on the inner face of the back wall immediately adjacent the opening, and a voice holder comprising sheet metal pressed to form end and side walls dimensioned to receive a cylindrical voice of conventional type, the ends of said walls being turned outwardly outside the back wall, said walls being also provided with outwardly bent spring fingers the relatively fixed ends of which are directed toward the end wall of the holder and the relatively movable ends of which are directed toward the opening and bear against the aforesaid sloping bosses and thereby lock the voice holder in place.

2. In combination, a hollow doll body having a large circular opening in the back wall thereof, a plurality of recesses on the outer face of the back wall immediately adjacent the opening, a plurality of forwardly sloping bosses on the inner face of the back wall immediately adjacent the opening, and a voice holder comprising sheet metal pressed to form end and side walls dimensioned to receive a cylindrical voice of conventional type, the ends of said walls being provided with outwardly turned ears received within the aforesaid recesses, said walls being also provided with outwardly bent spring fingers the relatively fixed ends of which are directed toward the end wall of the holder and the relatively movable ends of which are directed toward the opening and bear against the aforesaid sloping bosses and thereby lock the voice holder in place.

3. A holder or mounting device for supporting a sound producing unit in a hollow doll body, said holder comprising a strip of sheet metal bent to form an end and side walls, the outer ends of the side walls being turned outwardly to form ears, said side walls having struck therefrom outwardly bent spring retaining fingers the relatively fixed ends of which are directed toward the end wall of the holder and the relatively movable ends of which are directed toward the ears, the ends of said fingers being biased in a direction from the open toward the closed end of the holder whereby said fingers may accommodate doll body walls of different thicknesses.

4. A holder or mounting device for supporting a sound producing unit in a hollow doll body, said holder comprising a strip of sheet metal bent to form an end and side walls, said side walls being curved in section to conform to the shape of a conventional cylindrical sound producing unit, the outer ends of the side walls being turned outwardly to form ears, said side walls having struck therefrom outwardly bent spring retaining fingers the relatively fixed ends of which are directed toward the end wall of the holder and the relatively movable ends of which are directed toward the ears, the ends of said fingers being biased in a direction from the open toward the closed end of the holder whereby said fingers may accommodate doll body walls of different thicknesses, said holder being further provided with inwardly struck tangs or prongs adapted to embed themselves in the walls of the sound producing unit in order to retain the unit within the holder.

5. In combination, a hollow doll body having a large circular opening in the wall thereof, and a voice holder comprising sheet metal pressed to form end and side walls dimensioned to receive a cylindrical voice of conventional type, the ends of said walls being turned outwardly outside the doll wall, said walls being also provided with outwardly bent spring fingers the relatively fixed ends of which are directed toward the end wall of the holder and the relatively movable ends of which are directed toward the opening and bear against the inner side of the doll wall and thereby lock the voice holder in place, the ends of the fingers and the inner side of the doll wall forming relatively contacting parts, and the relatively contacting parts being biased in such direction with respect to each other as to provide a tight fit despite variations due to manufacturing tolerance.

6. A voice holder for a hollow doll body having a voice receiving opening therein, said voice holder comprising a single piece of sheet metal bent to form an end and side walls dimensioned to receive a cylindrical voice of conventional type, the side walls being relatively movable toward and from one another at the open end of the holder, the ends of said side walls being turned outwardly, said side walls having resilient retaining fingers directed toward the open end of the voice holder, said fingers being adapted to be slipped through the doll body opening with the holder and to automatically move to holding engagement with the doll body wall, the side walls of said holder being provided with inwardly directed tangs to anchor a voice therein when the side walls are confined by the doll body wall, the ends of the fingers and the inner side of the doll wall forming relatively contacting parts, and said J relatively contacting parts being biased in such direction with respect to each other as to provide a tight fit despite variations due to manufacturing tolerance.

'7. In combination, a hollow doll body having a large circular opening, a voice holder comprising a single piece of sheet metal bent to form an end and side walls dimensioned to receive a cylindrical voice of conventional type, and a voice, the free ends of said side walls being outr wardly turned, the intermediate portions of said side walls being struck outwardly to form resilient retaining fingers directed toward the open end of the voice holder, the side walls also being provided with inwardly struck tangs or points adapted to be embedded in the voice when the side walls of the holder are squeezed thereagainst, the holder and voice being slipped through the aforesaid doll body opening, the fingers being auto- 

